Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism

Description

Zen experience defies all thinking and linguistic description and simply affirms what is evidently real: "The ordinary way—that precisely is the Way." After questioning the nature of reality, the Zen student discovers that what remains is what is. Although it seems that Zen would not lend itself to philosophical discussion, that all conceptualization would dissolve in light of this empiricism, in this volume, the author demonstrates that the "silence" of Zen is in fact pregnant with words.

A variety of topics are discussed: the experience of satori, ego and egolessness, Zen sense and nonsense, koan practice, the influence of Zen on Japanese painting and calligraphy and much more.

Reader Reviews

The Compass of Zen is a simple, exhaustive—and often hilarious—presentation of the essence of Zen by a modern Zen Master of considerable renown. In his many years of teaching throughout the world, the Korean-born Zen Master Seung Sahn has… Read More

For all its emphasis on the direct experience of insight without reliance on the products of the intellect, the Zen tradition has created a huge body of writings. Of this cast literature, the writings associated with the so-called Five Houses… Read More

Joshu Jushin, also known as Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen (778897), was one of the great Ch'an (Zen) masters of ancient China. It is said of Joshu that his "lips emitted light" because his manner of teaching was to speak words that so… Read More

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